Chrome Usage on iOS Devices Reaches 3% in North America

Chrome Usage on iOS Devices Reaches 3% in North America

10 October 2013

Chrome usage on iOS devices steadily increased in late September, and 3% of North American iOS Web traffic is now generated by users of the browser – Chrome’s first time crossing that mark. While it’s unclear what has contributed to this rise in Chrome usage, it could be partially due to the September 18 release of the new version of Chrome optimized for iOS 7. The release of the new iPhone on September 20, along with the ongoing Chrome advertising campaign may have also impacted adoption rates.

To quantify Chrome usage on iOS devices, Chitika Insights examined tens of millions of North American ad impressions generated by iOS devices between September 1 and September 30, 2013. The browser in use was then determined through user agent analysis and other associated techniques.

The resulting increase in Chrome usage on iOS devices will likely be seen as a victory by Google. About one month following Chrome’s debut on iOS in mid-2012, 1.5% of iOS Web traffic was generated by users of the browser, and Chrome was one of the most downloaded free apps within the Apple App store. In the more than 14 months since that time, Chrome’s share largely stagnated in the 2% range. The final week of September marked the first week usage rates on iOS crossed the 3% barrier.

While Chrome usage share on iOS devices rose only about 0.3 percentage points following September 22, keep in mind that iOS has an incredibly large existing user base meaning that usage changes need to be exceptionally great to cause a significant impact. In this realm, Google still has work to do, but the recent growth is a likely indicator that Chrome is regaining some traction in the iOS browsing space.